CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WINNERS TO GO STRAIGHT INTO GROUP PHASE OF NEXT EDITION

The winner of this year’s African Champions League will be given direct entry into the group phase of the next edition of the competition in a bid by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to alleviate fixture-congestion.

Caf general secretary Amr Fahmy says this decision is a one-off and applies only to the 2018 Champions League because of changes to the timing of the annual continental club competition.

This year’s Champions League and African Confederation Cup are the last to be staged within a calendar year.

It ends some five decades of a traditional February start and culminating in an end-of-the-year finish.

The next editions will mark the change in dates as decided by Caf after overwhelming suggestions at last year’s Caf symposium in Rabat.

Future Champions League and Confederation Cup competitions will be staged from August through to May, following the same schedule as most of the major African leagues and also that of the European club competitions.

The switch will be made later this year with the 2018-19 edition of both competitions kicking off in November, just weeks after the previous edition is concluded and the 2018 champions have been crowned.

Caf are squeezing two preliminary rounds in before Christmas and will start the group phase of the Champions League in January.

The 2018 Champions League winner will not be able to take part in the early stages because they will be off representing Africa at the Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates from December 12-22 – hence, the decision to put the African champions straight into the group phase.

The 2018-19 competitions are sandwiched into just six months, concluding in May. The Champions League final is being played a fortnight before the 2019 African Nations Cup finals in Cameroon are due to kick off.

Caf are also sticking with the new standardisation of the dates and kick-off times for the two competitions, which were introduced this year.

Champions League matches are reserved for Fridays and Saturdays only, while midweek games may only be scheduled on a Tuesday.

In contrast, Confederation Cup games can only be played on a Sunday and Wednesday to ensure there is no overlap between the two competitions.

Champions League

Friday: 16h00 GMT, 19h00 GMT

Saturday: 13h00 GMT, 16h00 GMT, 19h00 GMT

Tuesday: 13h00 GMT, 16h00 GMT, 19h00 GMT

Confederation Cup

Sunday: 13h00 GMT, 16h00 GMT, 19h00 GMT

Wednesday: 13h00 GMT, 16h00 GMT, 19h00 GMT

It is a move to provide separate identities for the competitions that otherwise can fall prey to some chaotic scheduling and Fahmy said it had been well received.

Caf is also phasing out the experiment with midweek dates for club competition matches, first introduced two years ago. They will be limited in the 2018-19 edition.